Mumbai witnessed heavy showers since last 72 hours which has disrupted normal life in the city. Weather man has predicted more rainfall so people are not going to get any respite soon. Tuesday’s rainfall was severe which caused inconvenience to people. Employees were asked to return home in the afternoon by employers to avoid commuting woes. Several suburban trains were running late and many services were discontinued thereby causing severe hardships to commuters. Due to heavy rains, Maharashtra government had declared a holiday. Even schools remained shut. Many flights were cancelled due to poor visibility. People had taken shelter in temples, mosques to protect themselves from rain. They were offered food by trustees. Mumbai received 331.4 mm rain on Tuesday, which was the heaviest after the July 26, 2005 record of 944 mm, which caused the worst havoc in decades in the financial hub of the country.
People were advised to avoid beaches and promenades, which impacted the 5th day immersion of Ganesha idols. BMC had appealed to citizens to refrain from stepping out of their house unless it is really necessary. Due incessant rains darshan of Lalbhaugcha Raja had to be halted. To avert any mishap, Mumbai Police, Fire Brigade and other agencies remained on high alert. Navy had opened food canteens to serve food to the needy persons. Tuesday’s heavy rains had claimed 19 lives and 16 people were injured.
Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray appreciated the work done by BMC when heavy rains lashed the city.
“Even if you spend crores, you can’t bring Mumbai above sea level. Shiv Sena is answerable to Mumbaikars and not the Opposition,” he said.
Chief PRO, Northern Railway said, “Sixteen trains commencing on August 30, 31 and September 1 cancelled due to operational reasons and heavy rains in Maharashtra.”
Dr Deepak Amrapurkar of Bombay Hospital on Tuesday got down from his car near Prabhadevi and decided to walk back home, since than he is missing. His relatives searched for him till 5 am on Wednesday morning. Several rumours are doing the rounds that Dr Deepak Amarapurkar’s body has been found, but none of them are true. Neither the Bombay Hospital nor the BMC has confirmed the news.
Mumbai is resorting back to normalcy as water level has receded in many parts of the city. Suburban train services, the city’s lifeline depended upon by over 6.5 million commuters partially resumed on Wednesday morning on all the three lines — Western, Central and Harbour.
